KANSAS CITY, Mo. – Senior Peyton Hall (165) and true freshman Ty Watters (149) both earned All-America honors representing the West Virginia University wrestling team to conclude day two at the 2024 NCAA Division I Wrestling Championships in Kansas City, Missouri.
 
This performance by the duo marked the first time West Virginia captured two NCAA All-Americans in the same year since the Mountaineer pair of Matt Lebe (157) and Greg Jones (184) in 2005. It is also the eighth national tournament where WVU had multiple wrestlers land on the podium -1955, 1991, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2003, and 2005.
 
Individually, Watters joins elite company in former Mountaineer standouts Brandon Rader (2006) and Zeke Moisey (2015) as the third-ever true freshman in program history to claim All-America status, as well as the first WVU grappler to take home the honor at 149 pounds after pinning 2021 All-American and No. 26-seed Jaden Abas of Stanford in the blood round.
 
Additionally, the true freshman became the first grappler in school history to win a Big 12 championship and earn a top-8 finish on the mat at nationals, as well as the 13th Mountaineer overall to win a conference title and reach All-American status in the same season.
 
The Imperial, Pennsylvania, native gets set to take on No. 2-seed Kyle Parco of Arizona State for a spot in the third-place match, following a 10-2 victory over Big 12 adversary and No. 8-seed Casey Swiderski of Iowa State in the consolation quarterfinals.
 
If that wasn't enough, Hall knocked off No. 3-seed Julian Ramirez of Cornell to secure the second All-America honor of his college career and first since 2022 at 165 pounds. The now two-time All-American joins Mark Banks, Whitey Chlebove, Mike Mason, Greg Jones, Vertus Jones, Rader, Moisey and Killian Cardinale as the ninth WVU grappler to earn the honor multiple times and first since Cardinale did it in 2021 and 2023.

The Chester, West Virginia, native heads into the seventh-place bout against No. 8-seed Antrell Taylor of Nebraska, following a loss in the consolation quarterfinals.

Of note, West Virginia has produced at least one All-American in each of the last five years (Noah Adams – 2020, Cardinale – 2021, Hall – 2022, Cardinale – 2023, Hall and Watters – 2024) under coach Tim Flynn to match a similar stretch of success that the program last achieved from 2003 to 2007, which was a part of a six-year period that began in 2002, during legendary coach Craig Turnbull's tenure.

As a team, West Virginia enters the final day in 17th place with 25.0 team points, which would be the highest finish for the program since the 2004 squad ended its run tied for 16th.

Fans can catch Hall and Watters in action during Saturday's first session at 11 a.m. ET on ESPNU.
 
Consolation Quarterfinals
149: No. 5 Ty Watters (WVU) major dec. No. 8 Casey Swiderski (Iowa State), 10-2
165: No. 20 Hunter Garvin (Stanford) major dec. No. 9 Peyton Hall (WVU), 14-4
 
Blood Round
149: No. 5 Ty Watters (WVU) won by fall over No. 26 Jaden Abas (Stanford), [ T – 3:29]
165: No. 9 Peyton Hall (WVU) dec. No. 3 Julian Ramirez (Cornell), 7-2
 
*No. Seed
 
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